The invention relates to an optoelectronic component including an optoelectronic element disposed on the bottom of a first cavity provided in a highly doped silicon substrate of a first conductivity type and having upper and lower surfaces orientated along the plane (100), the surface of the first cavity being coated with a metallic layer in such a manner that it becomes reflective and this cavity having four faces disposed along (111) planes inclined with respect to the upper surface, and a flat bottom also coated with the metallic layer, the optoelectronic elements having a first electrode of a zone of the first conductivity type soldered at said flat bottom on the metallic layer and a second electrode of a zone of the second conductivity type connected electrically to the upper surface of the substrate.
Such a component is known from Japanese patent application JP-A No. 54-18692 published on Feb. 10 1979.
The problem to which the present invention is directed is how to manufacture at low cost, an optoelectronic component for surface mounting provided with a reflective cavity for improving the optical efficiency, which implies that the basic material is readily available and comparatively inexpensive and that the components are manufactured collectively. The optoelectronic component according to JP-A No. 54-18692 is not suitable for surface mounting.
An optoelectronic component for surface mounting is known from the PCT Application published under No. WO 83/00408 on Feb. 3 1983 in the name of Joachim SIEG. In this Application, a support of ceramic material (Al.sub.2 O.sub.3) is provided with a cavity, at whose bottom is soldered an optoelectronic element on one of two metallizations serving for its electrical connection. Conducting passages (metallized holes) permit providing the electrical contacts for surface mounting.
This component has, apart from the moderate thermal conductivity of alumina, the disadvantage that its manufacture is comparatively expensive because of the price of the basic material, in this case ceramic material, and that it is difficult to form the cavity. The cavity is moreover generally rectangular and non-reflective; it consequently does not contribute to the optical efficiency of the component.